John Anthony Carlton Grant (born 9 August 1981) is an English former

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby lea ...

who last played for

Droylsden Droylsden is a town in Tameside, Greater Manchester, England, east of Manchester and west of Ashton-under-Lyne, with a population at the 2011 Census of 22,689. Within the boundaries of the historic county of Lancashire, in the mid-19th cen ...

as a striker and previously played for a variety of other English football clubs.

Club career

Crewe Alexandra

Born in

Manchester Manchester () is a city and the metropolitan borough of Greater Manchester, England. It had an estimated population of in . Greater Manchester is the third-most populous metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, with a population of 2.92&nbs ...

Greater Manchester Greater Manchester is a ceremonial county in North West England. It borders Lancashire to the north, Derbyshire and West Yorkshire to the east, Cheshire to the south, and Merseyside to the west. Its largest settlement is the city of Manchester. ...

, Grant started his career at

Crewe Alexandra Crewe Alexandra Football Club is a professional association football club based in the town of Crewe, Cheshire, England. Its first team competes in League Two, the fourth level of the English football league system. Nicknamed 'The Railwaymen' ...

who were at the time playing in the Division One. He said his brother Daniel Grant, a former schoolboy player at Manchester United, inspired him to play football so he signed in July 1999 and made his debut against

Crystal Palace Crystal Palace may refer to: Places Canada * Crystal Palace Complex (Dieppe), a former amusement park now a shopping complex in Dieppe, New Brunswick * Crystal Palace Barracks, London, Ontario * Crystal Palace (Montreal), an exhibition buildin ...

on the opening day of the 1999–2000 season. He was also a promising basketball player and trialed with

Manchester Giants The Manchester Giants were a British professional basketball team based in Manchester, England. The franchise was established in 2011, and admitted to the top-tier British Basketball League in 2012. The team's formation was led by a consort ...

He was later loaned to

Hyde United Hyde United Football Club is a semi-professional football club in Hyde, Greater Manchester, England, formed in 1919. The team's strip is red shirts and black shorts and their home ground is the 4,250 capacity Ewen Fields. Hyde United's record ...

, and

Northwich Victoria Northwich is a market town and civil parish in the Cheshire West and Chester borough of Cheshire, England. It lies on the Cheshire Plain, at the confluence of the rivers River Weaver, Weaver and River Dane, Dane, east of Chester, south of Warr ...

2002 to 2005

In the 2002 close season, Grant signed for

Hereford United Hereford United Football Club was an association football club based in Hereford, England. They played at Edgar Street for their entire history. They were nicknamed 'The Whites' or 'The Lilywhites', after their predominantly white kit, or 'Th ...

, before going on to join the now defunct Telford United in July 2003. In the summer of 2004, Grant then signed for

Shrewsbury Town Shrewsbury Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in Shrewsbury, Shropshire, England. The team currently competes in , the fourth tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1886, the club were inaugur ...

, who had just beaten

Aldershot Town Aldershot Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in Aldershot, Hampshire, England. The team competes in the National League, the fifth level of the English football league system. The club was founded in the spr ...

in the Conference play-off final.

Halifax Town

Grant was on the move again in March 2005, when he joined

Halifax Town FC Halifax Town is a professional association football club based in Halifax, West Yorkshire, England. They currently compete in the National League, the fifth level of English football league system. They replaced Halifax Town, who went i ...

. Grant played and scored for Halifax Town in the 2006 Conference play-off final, at

Leicester City Leicester ( ) is a city status in the United Kingdom, city, Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area, and the county town of Leicestershire in the East Midlands of England. It is the largest city in the East Midlands with a popula ...

Walkers Stadium King Power Stadium is a football stadium in the city of Leicester, East Midlands, England, and the home of Leicester City. The stadium opened in 2002 as the Walkers Stadium and has a capacity of 32,259. The club attracted worldwide attentio ...

, against his former club Hereford United. Halifax Town lost the final. That season Grant finished as Halifax Town's top scorer with 14 goals. Despite being offered a new contract by Halifax Town, he decided to join Aldershot Town in the summer of 2006.

Aldershot Town

In July 2006, Grant signed for

. He scored twice on his debut against Gravesend & Northfleet, on the opening day of the 2006–07 season. At the end of the season, Grant was Aldershot Town's top scorer with 23 goals and he was voted the fans 'Player of the Year'. In December 2007, Grant scored his first and only senior

hat-trick A hat-trick or hat trick is the achievement of a generally positive feat three times in a match, or another achievement based on the number three. Origin The term first appeared in 1858 in cricket, to describe H. H. Stephenson taking three Wick ...

against Salisbury City. In February 2008, he committed himself to the club until the end of the 2009–10 season. Grant ended the 2007–08 season as top-scorer with 25 goals, as Aldershot Town won the

Conference National The National League, officially known as Vanarama National League for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in England. The National League is the first division of the National League (English football), National Le ...

title and the

Conference League Cup The National League Cup is an annual association football competition in England. The National League Cup is open to clubs playing in the National League and, since its revival in 2024, professional under-21 teams playing in the Premier League 2. ...

. He was also one of five Aldershot Town players that were named in the Conference Team of the Year. Grant made his 100th appearance for Aldershot Town against

Notts County Notts County Football Club is a professional association football, football club in Nottingham, England, which competes in EFL League Two, the fourth tier of Football in England, English football, following promotion and relegation, promotion ...

in September 2008 and he scored his 50th goal for Aldershot Town against

Rotherham United Rotherham United Football Club, nicknamed The Millers, is a professional association football club based in Rotherham, South Yorkshire, England. The team plays in EFL League One, the third tier of English football, after suffering relegation fr ...

in November 2008. In February 2010, he joined

Oxford United Oxford United Football Club () is a professional association football, football club based in Oxford, England. The club compete in the EFL Championship, the second tier of English football league system, English football. Founded as Headingto ...

on loan until the end of the 2009–10 season.

Barrow

Grant was released by Aldershot at the end of the 2009–10 season. Subsequently, he joined Conference National club Barrow on 19 November 2010. He made his debut the following day as a substitute in a 1–1 draw with

Grimsby Town Grimsby Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in Cleethorpes, North East Lincolnshire, England, that competes in , the fourth level of the English football league system. Nicknamed "the Mariners", the club was f ...

. Grant left Barrow by mutual consent on 31 January 2011.

Macclesfield

On 5 August 2011 Grant signed for

Macclesfield Town Macclesfield Town Football Club was an association football club based in Macclesfield, Cheshire, England. Initially known as Macclesfield F.C., the club was formed in 1874 and from 1891 played home games at Moss Rose. It competed in the short ...

on a non-contract basis after training with the team during the pre-season. He made four appearances during the 2011–12 season, the last in a 0–2 home defeat to

Southend United Southend United Football Club is a professional association football club based in Southend-on-Sea, Essex, England, which competes in the National League, the fifth level of English football. The team are known as "The Shrimpers", a reference ...

on 29 October 2011.

Droylsden

Having been without a club since his release from Macclesfield halfway through the 2011–12 season, Grant signed for struggling

Conference North The National League North, officially known as Vanarama National League North for sponsorship reasons, is a professional Association football league in England. National League North is the second division of the National Leagues and step 2 o ...

club

in March 2013, making his debut in a 4–0 defeat at Gloucester City on 12 March 2013. He made a further eight appearances during the 2012–13 season, failing to score.

Career statistics

Sources:

England National Game XI

He also made his

England National Game XI The England national football C team (previously known as the England National Game XI and the England Semi-Pro national team) are the football teams that represent England at non-League level. Formed in 1979 as the England Non-League team, it f ...

debut in May 2007 against the Republic of Ireland. Grant was in the squad that won that year's Four Nations Tournament and scored against Scotland on his full debut in the 3–0 victory on 25 May 2007.

Honours

Aldershot Town *

Conference Premier The National League, officially known as Vanarama National League for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in England. The National League is the first division of the National Leagues and step 1 of the National Le ...

: 2008 *

: 2008

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Grant, John 1981 births Living people Footballers from Manchester English men's footballers England men's semi-pro international footballers Men's association football forwards Crewe Alexandra F.C. players Northwich Victoria F.C. players Hereford United F.C. players Telford United F.C. players Shrewsbury Town F.C. players Halifax Town A.F.C. players Aldershot Town F.C. players Oxford United F.C. players Barrow A.F.C. players Macclesfield Town F.C. players Droylsden F.C. players National League (English football) players English Football League players 21st-century English sportsmen